Research has shown that 20 percent of people infected with Covid-19 are diagnosed with a mental disorder within 90 days.
Many Covid-11 survivors have a higher risk of developing mental illness, psychiatrists said, adding that after a large study, 100 percent of those infected with the coronavirus were diagnosed with a mental disorder in 90 days.
Anxiety, depression and insomnia were the most common among the study’s retrieved COVID-19 patients, and the researchers also found significantly higher risks of dementia, a condition of cerebral palsy.
“People are worried that Covid-1 survivors will be at greater risk of mental health problems, and our findings … suggest this is likely,” said Paul L. Harrison, a study author and professor of psychiatry at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. .
“There is an urgent need for physicians and scientists around the world to investigate the causes of mental illness and identify new treatments after COVID-19,” Harrison said.
The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry Journal on Monday, analyzed the electronic health records of millions of people in the United States, including more than 6,000 people who had cases of Covid-1.
In the three months following a positive test for COVID-19, one in five survivors has been diagnosed with anxiety, depression or insomnia for the first time.
This was almost double that of other groups of patients in the same period, the researchers said.
The study also found that people with pre-existing mental illness were 65 percent more likely to be diagnosed with Covid-1 than anyone else.
Two main factors could explain why people develop anxiety and depression symptoms, according to the study’s author.
“The virus can have a direct effect on the brain in some ways, perhaps through the immune system, which can lead to mental health problems,” Harris told Al Jazeera.
“But, importantly, the experience of having Kovid-1 and having all the fears and anxieties that people fear from the virus can also be a reason to understand everything that has happened to you.”
“[Health] Services need to be prepared to provide care, especially since our results are less likely to be underestimated [of the number of psychiatric patients], “He added.
Mental health experts who are not directly involved with the study said their findings add to the growing evidence that COVID-19 can affect the brain and brain, increasing the risk of a range of mental illnesses.
Simon Wesley, a rugby professor of psychiatry at King’s College College London, said people with mental health disorders also had a higher risk of developing COVID-19, similar to previous findings of an infectious disease outbreak.
“Covid-19 affects the central nervous system, and therefore can lead to a direct increase in subsequent disorders. But this research confirms that is not the whole story, and that the risk has been exacerbated by past poor health, ”he said.
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